Highly functioning... but still mentally ill?

One of the most frequent comments I, along with many others, hear is, “… but you are so high functioning. What do you mean you have ‘x’ mental illness?”. Cue a major eye-roll moment for us all, and biscuit is tossed to the mental illness stigma dog in the corner. This may come across as a bit of a rant; but bear with me and I think you’ll have some *ah-ha* moments along the way.

Let us please get one thing clear – the stereotypical looks of mental health disorders are just that; STEREOTYPES.

• Not everyone with depression lies in a bed-burrito for all of their days, nor do we all self-harm, and you will certainly not catch “the blues” from us.

• Eating disorders are not just for the skinny or large; we are sneaky and very good at hiding our behaviours. Just because you see us eat, and you don’t see us compensating for food, does not mean that we do not endure a daily struggle.

• Anxiety – the same again. A person working in retail, presenting a presentation for work or study, someone who parties hard… this does not mean we are not struggling with our anxiety. Our symptoms, triggers, and severity of suffering is on such a large spectrum that there is so much variation meaning no two presentations of “generalised anxiety disorder” are the same. This also applies to all other anxiety disorders – especially OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder).

• OCD is not all about tapping this, and flicking that… yes; that is a part of the illness – but the true nature and crux of the disorder lies in the obsessive, intrusive, and compulsive thoughts that drive these behaviours, along with the fear of the consequences that will occur if we don’t. Do you think we enjoy washing our hands until they are raw and bleed? Turn back half-way through a car ride because we are certain we left the hair-straighteners or that light on? Keep to a strict routine of our days that cut off relationships, work, study, and any hobbies we may have?

• A personality disorder – schizophrenia, BPD (borderline personality disorder), antisocial, avoidant, narcissistic, schizoid, paranoid – does not mean that all of us hear voices, have multiple personalities, are “insane” or “loons”, or are completely unstable. Just as the human body is unique to us all, so too are our personalities; just look around at your family, friends, workmates, peers… it would be a pretty dull life if we all had the same personality attributes, right? Personality disorders do not mean that there are certain things “wrong” with someone’s personality, but rather that there are aspects of the personality that are sometimes hard to deal with which require a bit of extra help by professionals

What overarching theme is appearing you may ask?

We are your siblings. Parents. Workmates. Students. Friends. Relatives. Acquaintances. Strangers.

The ones who are studying, working, at your gym class, a fellow walker on your regular track, the person in front ordering their coffee order, presenting a speech to an audience… doing the things you didn’t think we were capable of.

We are in society, and we are living our lives.

Just because you do not see the struggle someone is enduring mentally, does not mean that they are not struggling.

Highly functioning. But still struggling.

Your friend,

Rawing Meg xx